Dents Lucy Proctor

What is an iDent? An iDent is a small animation that gets played at the beginning of different programmes on various channels. This includes BBC, Channel 4 and ITV. iDents usually last for about 20 seconds. Sometimes iDents are to do with the programme that is about to air. Voiceovers can be involved during iDents. (e.g. And now we have Friends). They introduce the programme. They can either be videos or animations.

How is an iDent made? An iDent can be made on all sorts of different computer software including: Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro or Maya. These are all good for creating different iDents. An iDent is basically just a short, twenty second clip of something to do with a certain channel or programme. For example, the channel 4 iDents just include a big, bright number 4 dropping down from the sky and bouncing.

BBC 1 BBC 1 is one of the main channels that people watch. There are many programmes on that channel like Eastenders and Waterloo Road. These are also the iDents that people tend to remember because they are very creative and well thought of. BBC is probably also the most popular channel. Two of the main iDents are the dogs all jumping through a ring of fire and circling the BBC One title and the hippos in the water. BBC 1 was the very first TV channel so it was the first to have an iDent created for it.

BBC 2 The BBC iDents first began in the early 1950’s. To the right, there are three BBC Two iDents. These three have become the most popular and the ones that people tend to remember. The very first BBC 2 iDent was black and white and had lines going across the middle of the page. The 2 dropped down from above whilst the BBC came in from below. In 1967 on BBC 2, colour iDents were invented. The very first BBC 2 iDent is the one below.

BBC 3 BBC 3 first launched in 1998. The BBC 3 channel was first launched with five different iDents. The five iDents were of a fan which consisted of a football fan, an electric fan and a hand fan. The second was a heart; a heart of stone, a light heart and heartburn. The third was a mouse; a mouse, a computer mouse and a clockwork mouse. The forth was punch; Mr Punch from Punch and Judy, punch the drink and a punch with a boxing glove. The last one was a trumpet; the music instrument, the trumpet of a daffodil and the call of an elephant. All of the elements get seen close up at first before getting seen together.

BBC 4 BBC 4 was launched later on, on the 2nd of March 2002. A couple of the main iDents used for the opening of BBC 4 programmes are the bookshelves and the sunflowers. The new iDents used for BBC 4 featured an image that was made up of four parts. The four parts included seagulls, a girl climbing a ladder against a bookcase, a mountain scene against a lake, a child in a swimming pool and a bee collecting nectar. .

Channel 4 Channel 4 iDents usually involve a big 4 flying into the screen in lots of different ways. One of the well-known iDents involves a big 4 in the middle of a field, made out of hay stacks. This falls down from the sky and sets on fire suddenly. I think people remember this iDent more than others is because it’s original and weird in a good kind of way. It’s also one of the more modern and recent made iDents.

ITV The top two iDents are my favourite ITV iDents. They are the more latest ones and the ones I remember more. I think that they are good because they are very plain and simple but creative and memorable at the same time. ITV plays programmes like Coronation Street and I’m a Celebrity get me out of here and before those programmes get shown, an iDent comes on. Sometimes it involves a voiceover that introduces the show coming on next. The ITV iDents also have a small piece of music playing in the background as well. This is another well known channel that people tend to watch a lot of so these are the iDents that people tend to remember.

CBBC CBBC iDents normally consist of green blobs with eyes that slide across the screen to introduce the show. This is also like CBBC’s logo. One of their iDents is only three seconds long with the ‘CBBC’ jumping and popping out, looking 3D. CBBC is more of a children’s channel so the iDents tend to be quite fun, creative and brightly coloured. I think these iDents are good because they stick to two main colours, green and white and they are very kid friendly as well. This iDent gets shown a lot on TV and even in TV magazines so most people know that it’s CBBC.

Most Popular iDents The top iDents of 2012 are: UKTV Watch, Boing TV, 4seven, Europa Plus TV, Plus Plus, Syfy, Gloob, TF1, 4music and fashion TV spain. The top channels are BBC 1, ITV 1 and Channel 4 so those are the iDents that people tend to remember. Another popular iDent is the iDent that was used for the Olympics. This was a special iDent because it was to introduce the Olympics and so, doesn’t get shown any other time.

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